


Cold Descent

by opalstxrs



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Canon Compliant, Episode: s07e12 Victory and Death, Episode: s07e12 Victory and Death Spoilers, Hurt No Comfort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-07
Updated: 2020-05-07
Packaged: 2021-03-02 18:33:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 914
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24061399
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/opalstxrs/pseuds/opalstxrs
Summary: Darth Vader stepped off the ship onto the snowy moon. He’d spent the last few months hunting down the surviving Jedi. Now, Vader was sent to find Ahsoka Tano. They had no proof she’d died, and the Emperor had received intelligence on her last known location. Vader’s job was to prove she was dead, or else find and kill her himself.
Relationships: (mentioned) - Relationship, Anakin Skywalker & Ahsoka Tano
Comments: 1
Kudos: 50





	Cold Descent

Darth Vader stepped off the ship onto the snowy moon. He’d spent the last few months hunting down the surviving Jedi. Now, Vader was sent to find Ahsoka Tano. They had no proof she’d died, and the Emperor had received intelligence on her last known location. Vader’s job was to prove she was dead, or else find and kill her himself.

A small, tiny part of him flinched at the thought of killing the togruta, who had once meant so much to him. _No,_ he thought, forcefully shoving the memories down. _She betrayed you, remember?_ _She walked away. She left you behind. She means nothing to you._

It was another life; one he did his best not to think about.

Vader kept walking, kept pushing through the snow. He was surrounded by snow troopers and probe droids, looking for any signs of Tano. He ignored them. The Force was calling him; he knew where he needed to go.

He looked out at the wreckage of a Star Destroyer. He would guess no one would be able to survive a crash like this, but he and Tano had survived all kinds of things during the Clone War. _ Don’t think about that, _ he reprimanded himself sharply.

As he got closer, he caught sight of something orange sticking out of the snow. He looked closer. It was a clone’s helmet, with a design he recognized all too easily.

He couldn’t suppress the memory of telling Rex they were going to rendezvous with Ahsoka, the excitement he and the rest of the squad had felt. Rex and the others immediately getting to work to repaint their helmets in the markings of their beloved commander. Ahsoka’s stunned face as she saw the new paint jobs. 

It felt so long ago… but it was merely months. So much had happened since then, so much had changed.  _ He _ had changed. 

Something glinted out of the corner of his eye, and he looked down, saw something shiny and metallic sticking out of the snow, reflecting the sunlight. He knelt down and slowly stretched out a hand towards the object, and pulled out a lightsaber hilt. He stood back up due to how uncomfortable his prosthetics made kneeling. He gently brushed the snow off the hilt and immediately recognized it.

Tano’s lightsaber.

The memories rose again, unbidden. The first time he’d met her. She’d been brash, arrogant, reckless… and reminded him so much of himself. She’d saved his life numerous times. 

He saw flashes of all the missions they went on, all the battles they fought together, all the moments shared between them. The promises he’d made to protect her. He never admitted it, but he’d loved her as a sister.

Just like how he’d never admitted that a part of him shattered when she left. 

_ This is something I have to sort out on my own. Without the Council… and  _

_ without you. _

In hindsight, she’d done what he should’ve done, but never had the courage to. 

Vader wasn’t sure what made him do it, but he gripped the lightsaber firmly and ignited it. He stared at the brilliant blue blade that shot forth. It had used to be green. 

He remembered the months after Ahsoka left, where the only way he could find peace meditating was to do so with her ‘sabers nearby, to feel some of her presence again. He’d ended up meditating with them so much they changed colors to match his own ‘saber.

He remembered the look in Ahsoka’s eyes as she ignited her old lightsabers to find them blue.  _ They’re as good as new, _ he’d told her.  _ Maybe a little better. _ She hadn’t been upset. Instead she’d looked… playfully exasperated. Like she wasn’t really surprised.  _ She knew me so well, _ he thought.

They’d had to rush to their separate battles. They’d promised to catch up later.

That was the last time they spoke. 

Vader caught a shadow on the ground, and looked up to see what was casting it.

High in the sky, circling above him, was a convor bird. A convor that looked  _ very _ familiar. He stared at it a moment longer, then realized why he recognized it. It was the Daughter, from Mortis.

The one who’d saved Ahsoka from certain death.

The Father had told him there was no hope. The Daughter had proved him wrong.  _ There’s always hope, _ Anakin had said, long ago.

How naïve he’d been. Hope didn’t get anyone anywhere. Not in this galaxy.

The Daughter’s efforts had proven useless, in the end. Ahsoka Tano was gone. She wouldn’t have just left her lightsaber around.

The convor let out a soft, mourning cry. Mourning Tano? Maybe even mourning who Skywalker had become? Vader didn’t know. He didn’t care.

Clenching his jaw, he forced himself out of his memories. He sheathed Tano’s lightsaber and clipped it to his belt. He’d leave it here, but the Emperor would want to see it as proof of Tano’s death. That was the only reason he was hanging on to it. There was no other reason to do so.

There wasn’t. 

He turned his back on the wreckage of the ship, on the clone memorial, on everything. He walked silently back to the ship, signaling to the troopers that they were done here. All that was here were memories, memories of a past life, of  _ Anakin Skywalker. _

Another Jedi who he destroyed.

Darth Vader climbed back into his ship, leaving the moon and all its memories behind forever.

**Author's Note:**

> Hi! I am posting this on behalf of one of my good friends! She gave me permission to post this for her. She knows multiple people have done something like this already, but she wanted to show her own take on it. She has an amazing talent in writing, and I really love her work! :)


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